"Stuff is eaten by dogs, broken by family and friends, sanded down by the wind, frozen by the mountains, lost by the prairie, burnt off by the sun, washed away by the rain. So you are left with dogs, family, friends, sun, rain, wind, prairie and mountains. What more do you want?"
Federico Calboli

Monday, June 04, 2007

Matt's Stack of Books

I've been avoiding the book stand photo for sheer embarrassment. I'm the token short-bus rider at the Querencia School for Bibliophiles.

For a long time I had no stack at all. I read one book at a time, and that one slowly.

Lately I've been a more productive reader as measured in "books taken down from the shelf and placed on the reading table," but my actual word-per-day rate has not appreciably changed.

And some of these are not even books. Witness last month's Vanity Fair and no fewer than three National Geos, all lightly skimmed on day received and destined for the tasteful white caddy by the toilet.

I am managing to read Michael Pollan's "Second Nature" in small blocks of text and enjoying what I've read so far. I just finished his "Omnivore's Dilemma" and found it tasty.

One smooth essay at a time, I'm moving through "To Know a River: A Haig-Brown Reader" and Annie Dillard's "For the Time Being."

I started "The Weight of Glory" (CS Lewis) a couple months ago but ground to a halt on this good gift from my brother. About the same progress made on Eudora Welty's "On Writing," a gift from Mom.

My family, bless them, keeps working on me.

Dad left me "Outgrowing the Earth" on his last visit, a chewy-looking text by Lester Brown that is probably good and right down my alley. But I admit I haven't even read the blurbs.

Finally, for quietest moments when it is just possible to imagine September, "The Working Retrievers," a beautiful text with dazzling illustrations all by Tom Quinn. Foreword by Stephen Bodio.